Medicine Woman Oracle - four card groups with rituals for every card
Most oracle cards are a single undivided stack. The Medicine Woman Oracle works differently. Catherine Maillard divided the set into four separate groups, each with its own theme and its own colour code printed on the back of each card.
That structure is not decorative. The guidebook builds spreads around it, and every card description closes with a concrete ritual or practice.
What you see on the cards
Caroline Maniere painted the illustrations in deep, saturated colours. Jewel tones dominate: rich blue, warm red, gold and green. Each card depicts a woman or an animal, rendered as an archetype of the divine feminine or as a totem spirit.
The back of each card carries a colour that identifies its section. That same colour appears along the bottom of the front of the card. In the guidebook, the same colour coding helps you locate the right description without having to search.
The four groups
The set is divided into Medicine Women Cards, Gifts of the Feminine Cards, Totem/Allied Spirits Cards, and Medicine Action Cards. That division makes spreads possible that a standard oracle set cannot support. The Medicine Wheel Spread draws one card from each group and poses a different question for each.
One reviewer describes spreading the four cards across two days, working with two cards per day and closing each session with the suggested ritual. The guidebook provides enough structure to shape that kind of personal rhythm yourself.
What the guidebook contains
The guidebook runs to 192 pages and includes an introduction, instructions for using the cards, and for each card a description followed by a ritual or practice. A bibliography appears at the back. There is a table of contents, but the colour coding makes it largely unnecessary.
Maillard describes how to prepare a reading space and how to work through the cards step by step. That level of guidance is present throughout.
The colour coding looks like a small detail, but it makes the Medicine Wheel Spread noticeably more practical. You do not have to sort the cards by feel. They are already recognisable before you turn them over.
About Catherine Maillard and Caroline Maniere
Catherine Maillard facilitates women's circles and has twenty years of experience in shamanic practices, dance therapy, and working with the Keepers of the 13 Moons. She also has a background in aromatherapy, applied reflexology, and working with plants and herbs. She is the director of the 'Awakening of the Feminine' collection at Rockpool Publishing.
Caroline Maniere is a painter. Her 'Medicine Women' series channels, in her own words, messages of healing, transformation and ancient universal wisdom. Those paintings form the illustrations throughout this set.
Specifications
- Publisher: Rockpool Publishing
- Language: English
- Guidebook: 192 pages
- ISBN: 9781922579409
- Weight: 1050 g
- Author: Catherine Maillard
- Illustrator: Caroline Maniere
Questions we often get
Do you have to sort the cards into four groups every time you want to use the Medicine Wheel Spread?
No. The colour coding on the back of each card makes the four groups immediately distinguishable. You sort them once when you first unpack the set, or you recognise them at a glance whenever you need them.
Is the guidebook available in other languages?
The guidebook is in English only. The card titles are also in English.
